Author: Ina Allkanjari
Palace no. 136 is the only building in the area of "Celqi" street in Kombinat, which has been classified for demolition. Elis Bala, a resident of this building, tells "Sinjalizo" that a few days ago the municipality warned of the demolition of his building and asked the residents to leave the apartments. Bala says that today the case for the demolition of this building has gone to court, as there are also other lawsuits by citizens who are fighting a court battle with the state for the reconstruction process. Although three years have passed since the 2019 earthquake, dozens of Kombinat residents are stuck between unclear contracts, lack of information, inaccurate expertise and court battles with the state. In open lawsuits, citizens affected by the earthquake seek property protection. Until now, the residents of unit no. 6 in the capital have won six court cases in the Administrative Court of First Instance.
"The municipal experts who came and did the verifications came to the conclusion that the building is not for demolition, but the cost of repair exceeds the value of 70%. This is the reason why they decided that it is more profitable to make it new than to repair it. In fact, it is already known that the buildings are falling down and will not be built again where they were". says Bala as he emphasizes that they have received a certificate that the building is in the judicial process so that they can be sure that it will not collapse.
What the residents of this building are looking for is a revaluation of the building, so that it is not demolished but reconstructed.
"We received the status of the DS4 building in November 2021, we received the decision of the City Council that the building will be demolished. We had a year deadline to put him on trial, we finally succeeded. We are waiting for an expert from the court to come and when he does the expertise we will see what will happen. We hope to stay where we are and just rebuild." tells about 'Signalizo', Elis Bala, resident of building no. 136 in the Combine.
Building no. 157, located at the entrance to the Combine, is another object designated for demolition by decision of the Municipal Council. So far, two lawsuits have been filed in court for this building. One of them was won in the first instance against the municipality of Tirana, proving that the damage to this building is not such as to allow the collapse.
Meanwhile, the resident who filed the second lawsuit, who prefers to remain anonymous, tells 'Sinjalizo' that this court process is also nearing completion.
"I have had two hearings and the experts of the court have come and verified it, followed the same procedure. The same is the case throughout the Combine, where the goal is the extermination of the old buildings and demolition, the relocation of the residents to another place and the construction of new buildings there. This is theft of property, they are not honoring us because we have the palace very well", the resident of building no. 157 in the Combine.
The Tirana City Council, based on the in-depth expertise and the conclusion of the technical opposition of the Institute of Construction, has designated these buildings as damage level DS4, while the experts determined in court have assessed them as level DS2 or DS3, which means reconstruction and not collapse .
"All these buildings have been designated level DS4 and in all cases, according to the Municipality of Tirana and according to the Institute of Construction, the cost of repair has been very high. So it exceeded more than 70% of the value if you built the palace from scratch. This is also the legal criterion as to whether or not the palace should be demolished. In cases where it was decided by the court to carry out the examination once again, the same buildings came out with damage level DS2 or DS3”, lawyer Dorian Matlija tells 'Sinjalizo'.
In cases where the building has damage level DS2 or DS3, the building must not be demolished, but the family members are given a reconstruction grant. Specifically, if the level of damage is DS2, they benefit from 200 thousand new lek per family, if it is DS3, they benefit from 500 thousand new lek per family, to repair the damage themselves. This is because there are no such damages that interfere with the structure.
"In the won trials, it was found that the repair cost was fictitiously increased, while the construction cost was fictitiously reduced, making it seem as if it is economically unprofitable to repair the building. I have come across this typology in all the trials I have followed, not only in those that have been won but also in those that are in process, the experts have said the same thing before the court", says the lawyer.
Regarding the reconstruction process in this area, the municipality of Tirana declares to 'Sinjalizo' through the Directorate of Civil Emergencies, emphasizing that 28 buildings have been demolished in Kombinat, while 9 buildings are currently in the judicial process.
"Following the above-mentioned letter, by means of which information is requested about the Reconstruction process in the Combines as a result of the earthquake that occurred in November 2019, we inform you that: In the Administrative Unit no. 6, 28 buildings have been demolished so far. 3 buildings are in the process of being demolished (the reason for not being demolished is the resistance from the residents). There are 9 buildings in the court process", writes the Directorate of Civil Emergencies.
Citizens in the hands of the court
Lawyer Dorian Matlija says that in the Kombinat area, in total, the Municipality of Tirana has decided to demolish 41 buildings, of which 20 cases have gone to court. Meanwhile, the trials won so far are six, of which the last 2 were won in October.
"Of the 66 buildings that result to us in all of Tirana, 41 are in Kombinat that have been set for demolition. Currently, there are 6 closed processes in the first instance, with full acceptance of the lawsuit, the others are still in process. The municipality has not won any court case", said the lawyer.
Uncertainty about the reconstruction process
The combine continues to be problematic in terms of the collapse of buildings or even the ruins that you find almost everywhere.
One of the collapsed buildings that was declared uninhabitable after the 2019 earthquake is that no. 160. Bukurie Sulko tells 'Sinjalizo' that her parents lived in this building, but after the earthquake they were kicked out of the apartment after receiving an order to demolish it.
"After the earthquake, the parents were taken out of the house by the police, after they ordered that it be demolished. From the beginning, the procedures were not in order, as they took the parents out of the house without giving them any contract to sign what would happen to the apartment, where it would be built, or for how long." said Mrs. Bukurie as she points out that this apartment was registered in the name of her sister's family.
She says that her sister also had another apartment next to building no. 160, in which her sister's daughter lived, and although there was no damage from the earthquake, it was decided to collapse. "Next to the building no. 160 was the addition for which we were told at the beginning that it would not collapse, there was the sister's daughter's apartment of about 80 square meters and the entrance was a separate staircase, it was with regular papers. At first, the engineers said it was undamaged, later they came and destroyed it too."
Although her sister lost two apartments because they were designated for demolition, Ms. Bukurie is concerned that the process of benefiting from demolished properties will not be fair.
"There were two houses with a mortgage, if they are to be demolished, it's okay, but to connect us with the construction company, to take the apartments we had, where we had them. This is open theft, the land is ours. Moreover, why do we have to go to the village, there from the TEC, who will be given the land we have in Kombinat. People have been lied to because they told them they will get 2-3 houses, meanwhile they will be social houses and they will have other problems", Mrs. Bukurie says indignantly.
Meanwhile, Alketa, a resident of building no. 158 in Kombinat, which also collapsed after being classified as uninhabitable, tells 'Sinjalizo' that she is still living on rent without having any information about what will happen.
"I live in a rented house, we have been told that until the buildings are built we will live in rented accommodation, but we are not looking at anything concrete yet. I was a resident of building no. 158, on "Llambi Bonata" street. My parents have contributed like all residents to the construction of that building since October 21, 1975. We lived there until the day that earthquake happened. Last year on October 26, they demolished the palace", said Alketa.
Asked if they have information about where and when the building that will benefit their apartment will be built, Alketa says that they have no information and have not yet signed any contract for this.
In relation to the contracts that the municipality has offered to the residents of Kombinati, whose buildings have been designated for demolition, lawyer Dorian Matlija says that they have the same model as in the case of 'May 5'.
"The contract that is offered to them is a standard contract which is unclear about the time, or where they will benefit from the apartment. Above all, let's not forget that not everyone benefits, but only those who do not have another home. Also the shops do not benefit anything. So the concept is such that the state provides housing opportunities. So practically those who are receiving are being assessed as homeless, of a priority category. But this would be true if those buildings that had to be demolished were really damaged so much." said the lawyer.
The palaces built in Kombinat
In the new neighborhood in Kombinat, the foundations have been laid and the first buildings are being built where the families of the area will be housed, which were left without a home after the earthquake of November 2019. So far, the foundations have been laid for the first 5 buildings, 4 of which are built. Edmon Cata, a resident of the Kombinati area, says that one of the buildings located near the street "Enriko Teli" was built on swamp land.
The CombinArt project
The "KombiArt" project was presented by the mayor Erion Veliaj on July 7, 2020 through 3D images. According to this plan, the area of 1.5 million m2 in the Kombinat area will be used for construction with the purpose of housing 21 thousand individuals, including the residents affected by the November 2019 earthquake.
Residents of the area raise concerns that this project was determined before the 2019 earthquake and the earthquake is being used to implement development plans determined earlier.
"Therefore, deliberately in many buildings, the cost of the intervention is calculated over 70% so that the object is not repaired but demolished and built from the beginning. The same thing happened in the building where I live, no. 146, where by the decision of the Administrative Court of the First Instance it was determined not to collapse". said Edmon Cata, a resident of the Combine.
The same thing is repeated by a citizen, resident of building no. 157.
"Now these will sell the entrances that will be built, because no one will live there. This is unfair, displaces and builds." accuses the resident
According to lawyer Dorian Matlija, if an object does not have a high level of damage and collapses in an abusive manner, then the cause is not the earthquake, but the state is collapsing it through manipulation.
"In these cases, the residents have the right to compensation, those who destroyed their homes or even shops. Everyone whose building was demolished without a right, if they take the case to court and win, they will receive compensation." said lawyer Matlija.
